By ISABELLE STANLEY – DAILYMAIL.COM
Gone are the days where the most parents had to worry about was their child getting a splinter from a spinning top – now, experts warn kid’s toys maybe spying on them.
A ‘Trouble in Toyland’ report from the U.S. PIRG Education Fund has warned parents to avoid putting some so-called ‘smart toys’ under the Christmas tree this year.
Consumer protection experts say that microphones and cameras in the toys – as well as AI and personal data storage – are placing children’s privacy at risk and heighten instances of grooming and even kidnapping.
‘Our children’s holiday gift wish lists may be filled with stuffed animals that listen and talk, devices that learn their habits, games with online accounts, smart speakers and watches, or all kinds of toys that require you to download an app,’ the report said.
‘All smart toys may pose a risk to children, depending on the specific toy, the age of the child, the child’s technical skills and their capacity to understand what’s OK and what’s not.’
As the range rapidly expands, the $17 billion smart toy industry is set to double by 2027.
In an effort to protect children from a new wave of threats, report authors Teresa Murray and R.J. Cross advised parents to exercise caution over smart toy purchases.
They warned against some games, including the popular app Roblox, the Meta virtual reality headset and, as a more traditional choking-hazard, water beads, which the report says ‘can be deadly’.
The research comes after a series of incidents where toys placed children in danger.
Last month, an 11-year-old girl was kidnapped on September 10 from Wayne by a man she met while playing Roblox online.
Police say 27-year-old Darius Matylewich took the girl from her hometown after chatting on multiple gaming platforms. She was found safe a short time later, about 135 miles away from her home.
Roblox software allows users to play a wide variety of games and chat with others online – it is one of the most popular mobile games this year.
Roblox denied that the pair met on their game and said they ‘take the safety of our users, particularly our youngest users, incredibly seriously’ and are ‘committed to providing a positive and safe experience for people of all ages’.
The incident followed the FTC and DOJ charging Amazon with violating children’s privacy law earlier this year. The tech giant was ordered to pay $25 million and delete children’s data, geolocation data, and other voice recordings.
Samuel Levine, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, said: ‘Amazon’s history of misleading parents, keeping children’s recordings indefinitely, and flouting parents’ deletion requests violated COPPA and sacrificed privacy for profits.
‘COPPA does not allow companies to keep children’s data forever for any reason, and certainly not to train their algorithms.’
An earlier 2021 report claimed that Amazon children’s toys were sucking up youngsters’ data including their voice, photos, videos and location.
In some cases, the devices kept the data even when parents specifically asked them to delete it.
The new report warned that even a ‘play kitchen and a board game’ are Alexa-enabled and could have issues with child data harvesting.
It also warns: ‘Kids have also accidentally spent a lot of money while talking to a smart speaker. One 6-year-old spent $160 by simply asking her Amazon Echo device: ‘Can you play dollhouse with me and get me a dollhouse?”
In 2019, a popular children’s toy was discontinued over fears hackers could get into the toy and steal information about children.
The Fisher Price Smart Toy Bear was marketed to children aged three to eight as an ‘interactive learning friend that talks, listens, and ‘remembers’ what your child says and even responds when spoken to’.
But the new report says: ‘Research found a security flaw in the app would allow hackers to get information about children without permission.
It warned: ‘This toy bear is not an isolated case.
‘Multiple toys from major manufacturers have been discontinued in recent years after research from various groups showed that children’s voices, images, locations and other information was being improperly collected or hacked.
‘In other cases, vulnerable toys are still for sale.’
The report warns that ‘AI is now advertised in toy robots, games and interactive toy animals, some aimed at children as young as 3 years old.
‘This may allow the toy to try and form a relationship with the child and gather and share information with others that could risk the child’s safety or privacy.’
One of the group’s main concerns is the virtual reality Meta Quest headset as they say the ‘technology is in its very early days’ and could harm ‘developing brains’.
They added: ‘We talked to pediatricians who strongly recommend waiting for Meta to do more thorough testing to ensure VR is safe,’
Developmental pediatrician Dr. Mark Bertin said: ‘It’s just not worth the risk right now.’
Researchers found children as young as 10 could experience violence, sexual harassment and even attempted sexual assault while using the headset, including ‘lewd audio group chats and people using their virtual avatars to simulate sex’.
And many other companies have been forced to pay out millions for breaching child data protection laws.
This year, Microsoft was ordered to pay $20 million to settle allegations that it collected children’s information on its Xbox gaming system including their full name, phone number, email address and date of birth without parental consent.
Meanwhile in 2019, Google and YouTube paid $170 million to settle allegations that Google’s YouTube video sharing service illegally collected personal information from children without parental consent.
The report warns that even toys that may look harmless, like the CogniToys Dino, which is a Wi-Fi-enabled smart toy for five to seven-year-olds can collect your child’s name, birthday, gender as well your address, payment information and other sensitive data.
And it’s not just smart toys that pose a risk.
One of the report’s main concerns is water beads, colorful beads which expand when added to water.
Dev Gowda, deputy director of Kids In Danger in Chicago said: ‘If ingested, inhaled, or inserted in ear canals, water beads absorb bodily fluids and can lead to potentially life-threatening injuries.’
Close to 7,800 children were treated in emergency rooms from 2016 through 2022 for injuries or illnesses caused by water beads, according to data from the Consumer Product Safety Commission.